It was a bold comment at the tail end of four weeks of preparation, a final chew-on-this sort of thought from a sophomore running back before Western Michigan University's season opener today at Michigan.

"I think this is a rushing attack that Western Michigan has not seen before," Aaron Winchester boasted matter-of-factly of the Broncos' run game, before the last player left on Waldo Stadium's turf Thursday jogged off to join his teammates in packing their equipment bags.

You'll have to forgive Winchester if he's not yet a WMU football historian.

He was only 10 years old and living in Miami when Robert Sanford last carried the ball in Kalamazoo, and still probably in a previous life when Jerome Persell and the 1976 Broncos were piling up more than 3,000 yards on the ground.

Players make brash predictions all the time -- Jamarko Simmons' delusional bring-on-USC declaration before the 2007 season opener was the most careless in recent memory.

It's a sign of confidence, if not cognizance.

But in Winchester's case, despite only 272 career rushing yards to his name, there is perhaps legitimacy to his prediction -- even if it only relates to the Bill Cubit era of Bronco football.

It's been nearly a decade since WMU had such talent and experience at the three positions that matter most to the ground game: quarterback, offensive line and running back.

And it comes in a year where Cubit's dynamic pass-first offense may be curbed to some extent by youth at wide receiver.

Simply put, the success or failure of this offense will be determined by the beef up front and a trio of running backs behind them with the potential to combine for well more than 2,000 yards.

Speedy and versatile senior Brandon West is already third on WMU's all-time rushing list with 2,507 yards.

Winchester, twice over 80 yards late in his true freshman season, is a relentless between-the-tackles runner. Standing about four inches shorter than his ludicrously listed height of 5-foot-9, he can disappear into the line only to reemerge unexpectedly.

And senior Glenis Thompson, if his fumbling woes are cured, is the bruiser that West and Winchester aren't.

"With Tim (Hiller) and the way he's seeing defenses and getting us into good plays ... we at least give ourselves a chance," Cubit said. " ... Because I think the quality of the kids back there is pretty good."

In Cubit's vocabulary, "pretty good," with a grin accompanying it, is high praise.
So confident is Cubit in Winchester and Thompson that he's willing to risk using West on punt returns, after West "begged" for the opportunity.

Such a gaudy backfield promise, however, only matters if the Broncos' offensive line takes a step forward -- figuratively and literally.

The lack of push last season against Temple and Illinois won't do this time around. WMU won't survive the "stalemate," as junior right tackle Phil Swanson called it.

Swanson and the other four starters on the line have 48 combined starts between them. "We've been together so long, we can anticipate what's going to happen," Swanson said.

And, though, as a whole, they're actually still fairly young -- with not one senior among the first unit -- they are beyond the youth-as-an-excuse stage. Production is required from here on out.

All of the talk this preseason and heading into today has been about Hiller. It's the easy and obvious story line, and this remains a pass-to-open-up-the-run offense.
Always will be under Cubit.

But if Winchester is right -- or relatively close -- it won't feel that way.

And if the Broncos are finally going to finally win the Mid-American Conference, it can't.